Wireline telephony instrument for wirelessly receiving and displaying data messages

ABSTRACT

A wireline telephony instrument for wirelessly receiving and displaying data messages allows a wireline telephone to wirelessly receive data messages, although the wireline telephony instrument does not wirelessly receive or transmit calls. The data messages may include text, images, and other types of multimedia data. Wireless receive-only capabilities may be integrated into the wireline telephony instrument by adding an integrated circuit, such as a CDMA chipset or a GSM chipset, to the wireline telephony instrument. Further, by integrating a display into the wireline telephony instrument, the wireline telephony instrument may display the data messages. Logic is also integrated into the wireline telephone for routing the data messages received by the wireline telephone to the display.

REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/768,926,filed Jan. 30, 2004, the entirety of which is hereby incorporated byreference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to communication systems and, moreparticularly, to a wireline telephony instrument for wirelesslyreceiving and displaying data messages.

BACKGROUND

Short messaging service (“SMS”) and multimedia messaging service (“MMS”)have become very popular methods of transferring data to and fromwireless devices. SMS provides a mechanism for transmitting shortalphanumeric messages to and from wireless devices. Currently,alphanumeric messages up to 160 characters can be supported.

A wireless network may provide a short message service center (“SMSC”)which acts as a store and forward system for short messages. The storeand forward function provides a method of sending short messages totheir destination recipient or storing those messages if the recipientis unavailable to receive them. This store and forward function cangenerally be distinguished from the real-time delivery requirements ofvoice calls, although SMS messages may be delivered in real time.

The SMSC can send messages to or from a functional entity known as ashort message entity (“SME”). The SME is an entity that can receive orsend short messages. The SME is often an application entity that resideson a mobile station. Alternatively, the SME can reside on another entityin a wireless or fixed network. Typically, the SME can be arranged tocompose, store, dispose of, act upon, display and/or otherwise manageshort messages. The SME may also perform signaling functions to supportother delivery features; such as mobile station location and statusqueries, and mapping of destination addresses.

An SMS message may be sent to a mobile station. In this scenario, theSMS message is referred to as a mobile-terminated short message(“MT-SM”). When a MT-SM message is sent to a mobile station, the SMSCsends an SMS Request to a home location register (“HLR”) to find themobile station. The HLR provides the mobile station's status, (e.g.,whether the station is active or inactive, where the mobile station islocated) to the SMSC. If the mobile station is inactive, the SMSC holdsthe MT-SM message for a period of time. When the mobile station isactivated, the HLR sends an SMS Notification to the SMSC. The SMSC thenattempts to deliver the MT-SM message to the mobile station.

Additionally, an SMS message may be sent by a mobile station to aterminating device. In this scenario, the SMS message is referred to asa mobile-originated short message (“MO-SM”). Mobile-originated shortmessages are transported from the mobile station to the SMSC and can bedestined for other mobile stations or to subscribers on fixed networks,such as paging networks or electronic mail networks. The networkassociated with the terminating device pages the terminating device. Ifthe terminating device responds, the MO-SM message is sent to theterminating device and the network notifies the SMSC that the MO-SMmessage has been sent.

MMS is a means by which multimedia messages can be sent over the airinterface to and from wireless devices. Multimedia consists of one ormore media elements, such as text, voice, image, and video. A wirelessnetwork may provide a multimedia messaging service center (“MMSC”) whichstores MMS messages and transmits an MMS notifier to a terminatingdevice. In response to the MMS notifier, the terminating device may givethe MMSC permission to deliver the stored MMS message.

Other methods of delivering data messages to and from wireless devicesare also known. For example, Sprint customers using Vision cell phonesmay send pictures with Picture Mail and video with Video Mail. Thesedelivery methods use data messaging standards different from SMS andMMS.

SUMMARY

A wireline telephony instrument for wirelessly receiving and displayingdata messages, such as SMS and MMS messages, is described. The datamessages may include text, images, and other types of multimedia data.By integrating wireless receive-only capabilities into a wirelinetelephone, the wireline telephone may wirelessly receive data messages.The wireless receive-only capabilities may be integrated into a wirelinetelephone by adding an integrated circuit, such as a Global System forMobile Communications (“GSM”) chipset or a Code Division Multiple Access(“CDMA”) chipset, to the wireline telephone. Further, by integrating adisplay into the wireline telephone, the wireline telephone may displaythe data messages to the user. Preferably, the display is ahigh-resolution display that has the capability of displaying images aswell as text. Logic is also integrated into the wireline telephone forrouting the data messages wirelessly received by the wireline telephoneto the display.

As a result of adding the wireless receive-only capabilities, thedisplay, and the logic to the wireline telephone, a user of the wirelinetelephone may wirelessly receive data messages. Wireless carriers mayexpand revenue and customer retention opportunities by providing datamessaging services to wireline telephone users having a wirelinetelephony instrument for wirelessly receiving and displaying datamessages. As a result, the wireline telephone users may enjoy the SMS,MMS, and other data messaging services currently used by wirelesscustomers.

This as well as other aspects and advantages will become apparent tothose of ordinary skill in the art by reading the following detaileddescription, with reference where appropriate to the accompanyingdrawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

An exemplary embodiment of the present invention is described hereinwith reference to the drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a pictorial representation of a system for wirelesslydelivering data messages to a wireline telephone in accordance with anexemplary embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a wireline telephone in accordance with anexemplary embodiment; and

FIG. 3 is a flow chart of a method of wirelessly receiving anddisplaying data messages by the wireline telephone depicted in FIG. 2 inaccordance with an exemplary embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Users of wireless devices currently enjoy wirelessly receiving datamessages, such as SMS, MMS, Picture Mail, and Video Mail messages.However, users of wireline telephones have not been able to wirelesslyreceive data messages from these messaging services. By modifying awireline telephone, the user of the wireline telephone may wirelesslyreceive data messages. The wireline telephone may be modified byintegrating wireless receive-only capabilities, a display, and logicinto the wireline telephone. As a result, the users of a wirelinetelephone may wirelessly receive data messages.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a system 100 for wirelessly delivering datamessages to a wireline telephone in accordance with an exemplaryembodiment. The system 100 includes a user device 102, a mobileswitching center (“MSC”) 104, a base station controller (“BSC”) 106,base transceiver station (“BTS”) 108, and a wireline telephonyinstrument 110 (referred to herein as a wireline telephone). The MSC104, the BSC 106, and the BTS 108 may be components located in awireless network. The wireless network may also include additionalcomponents, such as an HLR, an SMSC, and an MMSC. FIG. 1 also depicts aPublic Switched Telephone Network (“PSTN”) 112 and an Internet Protocol(“IP”) Network 114. The wireline telephone 110 may transmit and receivevoice messages over the PSTN 112, the IP Network 114, or other wirednetwork, such as a corporate network, as is well known in the art.

The user device 102 may be any device that is operable to transmit datamessages. The data messages may include SMS, MMS, Picture Mail, andVideo Mail messages. For example, the user device 102 may be a mobilestation, a personal digital assistant (“PDA”), or a computer. The userdevice 102 may be a wireless or a wireline user device.

The connection between the user device 102 and the MSC 104 is shown witha dashed line in FIG. 1 to indicate that there may be one or morecomponents between the user device 102 and the MSC 104. For example, ifthe user device 102 is a mobile station, the user device 102 may sendthe data message to a BTS. The BTS may be BTS 108 or another BTSdepending on the location of the user device 102. As another example, ifthe user device 102 is a computer, the user device 102 may send the datamessage to a gateway that sends an email from the computer to an SMSC.

The wireless network may use CDMA technology, though other types ofwireless technologies, such as GSM, may also be used. The wirelessnetwork may include multiple cells, each of which is defined by a radiofrequency (“RF”) radiation pattern from a respective BTS. The BTS 108may communicate with the BSC 106, which may communicate with the MSC104. The MSC 104 performs switching functions, controlling calls to andfrom other telephone and data systems, including the SMSC and the MMSC.

The BTS 108 may wirelessly transmit a data message to the wirelinetelephone 110 through the air interface. The wireline telephone 110 maywirelessly receive the data message from the BTS 108 using integratedwireless receive-only capabilities. The term “wireless receive-onlycapability” is used herein to mean that the wireline telephone 110 hasthe capability to receive data messages wirelessly, but does not havethe capability to wirelessly transmit data messages other than the datamessages used to indicate receipt of the data message, such as anacknowledgement message. The data message may be an SMS message, an MMSmessage, or other data message. The wireline telephone 110 may displaythe data message on an integrated display.

The wireline telephone 110 may be a Plain Old Telephone Service (“POTS”)telephone or a Voice over Internet Protocol (“VoIP”) telephone that hasbeen modified. The POTS or VoIP wireline telephone may be modified byintegrating wireless receive-only capability, a display, and logic intothe wireline telephone to produce the wireline telephone 110. Further,the wireline telephone 110 may be a cordless telephone having a baseunit and one or more handsets.

The wireless receive-only capabilities may be integrated into thewireline telephone using CDMA, GSM, or other wireless technologies. Theintegrated display may allow the user of the wireline telephone 110 toview data messages, including text, image, and other multimediamessages. Additional details regarding the wireline telephone 110 aredescribed with reference to FIG. 2.

The PSTN 112 may connect calls (i.e., voice messages) to and from thewireline phone 110 via a central office. The PSTN 112 is depicted inFIG. 1 to indicate that the wireline telephone 110 does not wirelesslyreceive or transmit voice messages. Alternatively, the wirelinetelephone 110 may be connected to the IP network 114. The IP network 114may connect calls to and from the wireline telephone 110 via an IPtelephony server. In this scenario, the wireline telephone 110 also doesnot wirelessly receive or transmit voice messages.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a wireline telephone 200 for receiving anddisplaying wireless messages in accordance with an exemplary embodiment.The wireline telephone 200 may be a POTS telephone, a VoIP telephone,and/or a cordless telephone. The wireline telephone 200 may include anintegrated circuit 202, logic 204, and a display 206. The wirelinetelephone 200 may include other components typically located in awireline telephone.

The integrated circuit 202 may provide wireless receive-onlycapabilities to the wireline telephone 200. The integrated circuit 202may allow the wireline telephone 200 to wirelessly receive data messagesfrom the wireless user device 102. The data messages may include text,image, and other multimedia data such as sound files (e.g., MP3 and WAVfiles) and movie files (e.g. MPEG2 and RealMedia files). For example,the data message may be streaming video from a camera phone.

The integrated circuit 202 may be a commercially available GSM chipset,CDMA chipset, combination GSM and CDMA chipset, or any other wirelesstechnologies that function to receive wireless data transmissions nowknown or developed in the future. For example, Qualcomm's MSM6250chipset, which is a combined GSM and CDMA chipset, may be used.Alternatively, the integrated circuit 202 may be custom designed for aparticular wireline telephone configuration.

In another embodiment, the integrated circuit 202 may provide wirelesstransmit capabilities to the wireline telephone 200. In this embodiment,the integrated circuit 200 may include both wireless receive andtransmit capabilities. However, by adding wireless transmit capabilitiesto the wireline telephone 200 additional bandwidth allocation may benecessary. The wireless transmit capabilities may allow the wirelinetelephone 200 to send, acknowledge, or otherwise communicate via datamessaging to the user device 102.

The logic 204 may provide an interface between the integrated circuit202 and the display 206. The logic 204 may be any combination ofhardware, software, and/or firmware operable to route data messageswirelessly received by the integrated circuit 202 to the display 206.The logic 204 may include a commercially available display driver fordisplaying high-resolution images. Alternatively, the display driver maybe custom designed for a particular wireline telephone configuration.The logic 204 may be capable of driving high-resolution monochromedisplays and/or high-resolution color displays (e.g., RGB displays). Thelogic 204 may reformat the data messages to fit the display 206.Further, the logic 204 may include memory for temporarily storing datamessages.

The display 206 may be a high-resolution display operable to displaydata messages. The data messages may include text, images, and othermultimedia data. Accordingly, the display 206 may have more resolutionthan a display designed to display text only. The display 206 may be acommercially available display similar to a display located in a userdevice having MMS and/or camera features. Alternatively, the display 206may be custom designed for a particular wireline telephoneconfiguration. The display 206 may display high-resolution monochromeand/or color images. If the wireline telephone 200 is a cordlesstelephone, the display 200 may be located on the base unit and/or on theone or more handsets.

When the user device 102 sends a data message to the wireline telephone200, the integrated circuit 202 may wirelessly receive the data message.The integrated circuit 202 may forward the data message to the logic204. The logic 204 may process the data message to fit the data messageon the display 206 and then route the processed data message to thedisplay 206. The display 206 may then display the data message forviewing. The user of the wireline telephone 200 may view the datamessage on the display 206. By integrating the wireless receive-onlycapabilities, the logic, and the display into the wireline telephone200, the wireline telephone 200 can wirelessly receive text, images, orother types of multimedia messages from the BTS 108.

The integrated circuit 202, the logic 204, and the display 206 may beintegrated into the wireline telephone 200 at the time of manufacture.Alternatively, the wireline telephone 200 may be retrofitted aftermanufacture to include the integrated circuit 202, the logic 204, andthe display 206. The process of adding additional components to awireline telephone is known to those skilled in the art.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart of a method 300 of wirelessly receiving anddisplaying data messages by a wireline telephone in accordance with anexemplary embodiment. At block 302, the wireline telephone 200wirelessly receives a data message. The integrated circuit 202 maywirelessly receive the data message from the BTS 108. The integratedcircuit 202 may be a GSM chipset, a CDMA chipset, a combination GSM/CDMAchipset, or any other chipset that functions to receive wireless datatransmissions now known or developed in the future.

At block 304, the data message may be routed to a display. The logic 204may route the data message from the integrated circuit 202 to thedisplay 206. The logic 204 may be any combination of hardware, software,and/or firmware operable to route data messages received by theintegrated circuit 202 to the display 206. The logic 204 may include acommercially available display driver for displaying high-resolutionimages. The logic 204 may be capable of driving high-resolutionmonochrome displays and/or high-resolution color displays (e.g., RGBdisplays). The logic 204 may reformat the data messages to fit on thedisplay 206.

At block 306, the data message is displayed. The data message may bedisplayed on the display 206. The display 206 may be a high-resolutiondisplay operable to display data messages, including images as well astext. The display 206 may be similar to a display in a user devicehaving MMS and/or camera features. The display 206 may displayhigh-resolution monochrome and/or color images. A user of the wirelinetelephone 200 may view the data message on the display.

An exemplary embodiment of the present invention has been describedabove. Those skilled in the art will understand that changes andmodifications may be made to this embodiment without departing from thetrue scope and spirit of the present invention, which is defined by theclaims.

I claim:
 1. A method of wirelessly receiving and displaying datamessages by a wireline telephone, the method comprising in combination:wirelessly receiving into the wireline telephone a data message; routingthe data message to a display; and displaying the data messagewirelessly received by the wireline telephone on the display, whereinthe wireline telephone does not wirelessly receive or transmit calls. 2.The method of claim 1, wherein wirelessly receiving the data messagecomprises a wireless receive-only capability integrated into thewireline telephone wirelessly receiving the data message.
 3. The methodof claim 2, wherein the wireless receive-only capability comprises anintegrated circuit.
 4. The method of claim 3, wherein the integratedcircuit comprises a chipset selected from the group consisting of a GSMchipset, a CDMA chipset, and a combination GSM and CDMA chipset.
 5. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the data message comprises data selected fromthe group consisting of text and images.
 6. The method of claim 1,wherein routing the data message comprises a display driver routing thedata message.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein the display is operableto display data selected from the group consisting of text and images.8. A wireline telephony instrument for wirelessly receiving anddisplaying data messages, comprising in combination: an integratedcircuit operable to wirelessly receive a data message sent to thewireline telephony instrument; a display operable to display the datamessage received by the integrated circuit; and logic operable to routethe data message received by the integrated circuit to the display,wherein the wireline telephony instrument does not wirelessly receive ortransmit calls.
 9. The wireline telephony instrument of claim 8, whereinthe integrated circuit comprises a chipset selected from the groupconsisting of a GSM chipset, a CDMA chipset, and a combination GSM andCDMA chipset.
 10. The wireline telephony instrument of claim 8, whereinthe data message comprises data selected from the group consisting oftext and images.
 11. The wireline telephony instrument of claim 8,wherein the display is operable to display data from the groupconsisting of text and images.
 12. The wireline telephony instrument ofclaim 8, wherein the logic includes a display driver.
 13. A wirelinetelephony instrument for wirelessly receiving and displaying datamessages, comprising in combination: an integrated circuit operable towirelessly receive a data message sent to the wireline telephonyinstrument, wherein the integrated circuit comprises a chipset selectedfrom the group consisting of a GSM chipset, a CDMA chipset, and acombination GSM and CDMA chipset; a display operable to display the datamessage received by the integrated circuit, wherein the data messagecomprises data consisting of text and images; and a display driveroperable to route the data message received by the integrated circuit tothe display, wherein the wireline telephony instrument does notwirelessly receive or transmit calls.